John McCalla-Leacy

John, you have been deeply involved in sustainability work at KPMG. How would you introduce yourself and your current focus to those meeting you for the first time at the Leaders in Sustainable Finance event?
I am the Head of Global ESG & Sustainability at KPMG International. This means that I am responsible for embedding sustainability focused practices into the firm’s strategy and for its execution. This includes the delivery of sustainabilty engagements, solutions, services, technology and AI products across our 3 business lines: Audit, Advisory, Tax & Legal and the 143 markets that we operate in.
I’ve been with KPMG for 25 years, initially focused on Technology and then M&A, including leading the Integration & Separation Centre of Excellence in ASPAC while living in Hong Kong over a decade ago. Previously, I was an elected member of the KPMG UK Board before stepping down from the Board to focus on leading ESG – initially for KPMG UK, and then globally. I am still a Board Member of the KPMG Foundation focused on working to improve the lives of the most vulnerable children and young people in the UK, including those in care or on the edge of care.
While I came to sustainability more broadly in the past 5 years, I have been a champion of the ‘S’ in ESG for twenty years including through support to the King’s Trust (formerly known as the Prince’s Trust). I also Chair the Disability Confident (DC) Business Leaders Group. The DC scheme covers approximately 19,000 UK businesses. Through this role, I have the privilege to work with others to support the development and implementation of policies focused on increasing the number of disabled people in work.
Currently I spend the majority of my time helping business leaders and KPMG’s clients to navigate the evolving sustainability landscape. This includes building resilience to the growing shocks of extreme weather events, whilst also driving long-term value from an equitable transition to a low carbon economy.

You were present at COP30. What were some of the most significant takeaways for you, and how do you see those outcomes influencing the finance sector in 2026?
At this COP the primary focus was on accelerating implementation – including through integrating climate, nature, and social dimensions into government initiatives, business strategies and corporate operations. Of course a key enabler to this is increasing climate and adaptation finance.  Negotiations took place with the Amazon as a backdrop which emphasized the importance of nature, biodiversity and Indigenous inclusion.
When you unpack the technical detail and announcements we see signs of positive progress. This includes:

• • While the final text removed explicit language on fossil fuel phase-out, (despite strong calls for inclusion), 80 jurisdictions pledged separately to phase out fossil fuels;
  • Over $6 bn pledged to the Tropical Forest Forever Fund;
  • Progress on the Article 6 technical rules for carbon markets;
  • The first global health adaptation plan;
  • A commitment to combat misinformation on climate, and
  • The launch of the Global Circularity Protocol – to name but a few of the big announcements.

For the insurance industry, we found that when we looked back at attendees to COP28 and COP29 and compared this to COP30 – this sector had materially increased their presence. The world is seeing the increasing destruction from ever more frequent climate disasters, with the ‘new normal’ being $150bn a year in cost to insurers from natural disasters. There was a real focus on adaptation at COP30 and the steps we must take to build resilience in economies and businesses. For example, considering the Global Goal on Adaptation (which was initially agreed as part of the Paris Agreement), in Belem there was an adoption of 59 voluntary metrics including topics such as change in water-use, health, eco-systems, warning systems and many more. These metrics are potentially key to the insurance sector in further gathering data to inform their modelling.
Looking at Climate Finance, there was a commitment to triple adaptation finance by 2035 whilst acknowledging that private capital would be critical to delivering this. There is always the challenge of identifying the right projects for private capital to invest in, and the role of development capital in helping to de-risk these projects where required. In Belem there was an announcement of the Global Green Guarantee Directory, which is a published list of the different finance guarantee schemes around the world including covering currency risk, credit risk, political risk as well as for both domestic and cross-border projects. This is one of the biggest opportunities for the providers of climate finance to scale their impact.
There was also growing acknowledgement of the importance of integrating sustainability risks and opportunities into financial valuations; this is emerging as a key driver that will affect corporates and more broadly capital markets. I am proud of the work the KPMG is doing with the WBCSD to drive progress in this space.

In your view, what is the most urgent change needed right now to accelerate sustainable finance at scale?
We need to make visible the risks and related cost of inaction and then focus on how we price in these in financial markets. That will help us all to understand the value preserved by taking action as well as the competitive advantage and upside potential which will allow market forces to recognise and reward those who are acting on climate change. Those taking action to mitigate as well as adapt to climate change will be more resilient and more competitive businesses as we move through the transition to a low carbon economy. We should be mobilising finance behind those initiative and organisations.
Additionally, we must acknowledge both sides of the AI market-making equation. On one side lie the risks—such as algorithmic bias, widening inequality, and escalating energy consumption. On the other side are the opportunities—increased investment in clean energy to meet rising demand, greater emphasis on green innovation, and the potential for AI to democratise access to skills. Ultimately, ensuring that capital is directed toward the right initiatives will be essential to drive and accelerate the transition to sustainable technologies.

As you prepare to speak at the Leaders in Sustainable Finance event, what are you most looking forward to discussing or hearing from other leaders in the room?
I am excited to be part of the discussion on accelerating action together. No one company,     sector or country alone can drive the transition alone.
We must work together across the entire breadth of the value chain to drive action. Banking, Insurance and Asset Managers are obviously critical to that, as they’re ever present across all global value chains.
There is a role for all of us to play in driving the transition to a just low carbon economy forwards and I’m excited to hear from the finance leaders in attendance what ideas & innovations they exploring to accelerate action.